Tobacco industry interference with World Health Organization's research on passive smoke and cancer

Smoking is now generally recognized as the most important preventable cause ofhuman cancer and responsible for more than 230,000 new cases in North Americaand more than 420,000 cases annually in Europe. Passive smoking carries a lowerrisk and the tobacco industry has made considerable efforts to dispute the lungcancer risk associated with environmental tobacco smoke
(ETS) since it is the scientific basis for legislation protecting thenon-smoker at the workplace and in public spaces.

In the issue of The Lancet dated 8 April 2000, researchers from the Universityof California at San Francisco report the results of a review of internaldocuments from Philip Morris and other tobacco companies. The documents provideevidence that the tobacco industry has closely monitored and tried to activelyinterfere with the conduct of an international epidemiological study on lungcancer in non-smokers following exposure to passive smoking. The study wasco-ordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon,France, a research institute of the World Health Organization (WHO). Theresults were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute(Boffetta et al., J Natl Cancer Inst 90: 1440-1450; 1998) and showed thatexposure to passive smoking at the workplace or through spouse results in anincreased relative risk (RR) of 1.16, a small factor when compared to the RR ofmore than 20-fold associated with active cigarette smoking. However, given thelarge populations exposed to passive smoking, it has been calculated that inthe USA 3000 and in Europe up to 2500 cases of lung cancer annually are causedby passive smoking.

Among the actions undertaken by the tobacco industry were the establishment ofa task force to react to the publication of the results, the use of consultantsto contact the IARC investigators to obtain confidential information on thestudy, and plans to influence the scientific policy and
financing of IARC. Two years ago, the IARC study was the object of a strongdiffamation campaign in the media orchestrated by the tobacco industry througha lead article in the Daily Telegraph (London). Although these attacks did notpre-empt the publication of the report in the medical literature, they createdconfusion and controversy on the interpretation of the results. The documentsreviewed in The Lancet's article suggest that this media campaign was part of abroader long-planned strategy of the tobacco industry on passive smoking.

The existence of a carcinogenic risk from passive smoking adds a new dimensionto the debate on health effects of tobacco since in contrast to the diseasesaffecting the active smoker, it represents a health damage imposed on peoplewho have chosen not to smoke. This difference has great implications in termsof regulation of smoking in public settings, and may, in the long run, be amajor factor towards the decrease in tobacco consumption. This explains thestrong interest of the tobacco industry to monitor and discredit studies,including the one from IARC, that contribute to establishing the causal linkbetween passive smoking and cancer.

More information on the IARC study of passive smoking and on the activities ofthe tobacco industry to interfere with it can be obtained from Dr NicolasGaudin, Public Relations Officer (gaudin@iarc.fr)

Nicolas Gaudin, Ph.D. Public Relations Officer/Responsable des Relationspubliques
International Agency for Research on Cancer/Centre international de Recherchesur le Cancer
150, cours Albert-Thomas 69008 Lyon, France
Telephone : +33 472 738 567 (direct line)
Telefax : +33 472 738 311 (Press Office)
E-Mail : gaudin@iarc.fr
Web : http://www.iarc.fr